tribal essays

tribal essays The Hopi are a group of Shoshonean-speaking American Indians living in the well-known pueblo type of primitive apartment-house towns placed on and at the foot of three mesas in northeastern Arizona. They have been settled there since about 1200 A.D. (Aberle). The original Hopi reservation was established by executive order in 1882 (Born A Chief). The history of the Hopi, though it contains little aggressive warfare, is full of conflict with the Spanish, with non-Pueblo Indians, and with the Americans. The Hopis are a farming and herding tribe. They live a life full of uncertainties though because of the scarce and unpredictable rainfall, cold winters, killing frosts, and hot summers. All the uncontrollable forces of nature made it necessary for hard work even though they never knew how much it would actually pay off in the end. With the threat of famine always there; even today it is not uncommon to see families with a years worth of corn stored away as a safeguard. Starvation did occur sometimes because of all these factors in the worst scenarios. In the 1880s drought and famine killed hundreds and left an indelible mark on anyones memory that was alive at that time (Hall). The book states the people went crazy from hunger and hallucinated about food. They hauled their water in jugs from the springs at the bottom of the mesas, which were a mile away. They collected their wood from the dead junipers on the tablelands for their homes. They tilled their fields in the sand dunes and washes traveling anywhere from three to twenty miles on foot to get there (Hall). Planting is done periodically in May and June harvesting in September. Fields and gardens require a lot of attention so that they will be kept from harms way. Corn and beans is their main agricultural base. Herding of sheep, cattle, goats, and other animals was mens work and they came with their own complications: the haz...